


20 Hours

by kaoruyo



Category: AKB48, AKB48 & Related Fandoms, SKE48
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-21 04:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3677961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaoruyo/pseuds/kaoruyo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>24 hours is the limit.<br/>How could you help someone in day?<br/>What if your task is to end someone's life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	20 Hours

_"Are you that rumored girl?"_

_"Yes. Or no. Depend on which rumored girl you think I am."_

_"You're that helper. The helper that would do anything the client ask in exchange of money. And, all within a day."_

_"In that case, the answer is yes."_

_"Then, I have a job for you."_

_"And what that would be?"_

_"Kill me."_

* * *

 

My first encounter with Matsui Rena was unexpected. I was sitting on my favorite bench in the city park. Spending the night there. Or just waiting for someone to call me for help. Which for me, means job.

The sky that morning was light blue, a pleasant day to come. I was lying while staring at the sky, wondering what the cloud shaped today. I was counting, when my view got blocked. It was surprising, and also embarrassing, to be caught off guard. I would be mad, if only the one who blocked my view was any less than a beauty.

For 20 years of my life, that exact moment was the first time I encountered a perfect human being. At least for me. From head to toe, no flaw I could pinpoint—the straight black hair down to her chest, tiny pale hands, the river in her eyes—all completed when she let out her gentle voice. It was dreamy. I could listen to hers all day. I bet her singing voice is as good as her voice do.

She asked me, smile never leaves her face. Even before she finished her sentence, I knew she came for a reason, and for one reason only. She needs help. That’s my job. I do everything, from delivering things, baby-sitting a kid, doing rough job, becoming a client’s girlfriend, everything. The payment’s varied. Depend on how hard the task is. And all must be done between one day. Most done faster though.

However, the task she gave me was ridiculous. No, no way I would do that. No normal human would. I must ask her to recite her words several times to ensure what I heard was just right. But no. This girl want to die. And she asked me to end her life.

"I have a bank account here. When I die, all this money is yours."

She gave me her account book. I gasped as I found more than 9 zeros in her total sum of money. I looked at her. She was wearing a maroon-colored coat covered with black muffler on the neck, blue jeans, knee-length boots, none seems expensive, but in my experience, costly goods sometimes looks duller than the cheap one.

"Do you think the money in that account is not mine?"

Her voice would be mesmerizing if only I did not hear what she just told me to do. Yes, I do doubt her. Such a young looking woman with money as much as a large-size company has, that's totally suspicious. I need to be very careful in this line of job.

"Don't worry. We can go to the bank if you don't believe me."

"No, that's not what I mean."

"Then?"

I bit my lips, wondering myself why this beautiful young lady asked such a thing. Moreover, to a peasant just like me.

"You don't want to do what I ask."

Her words pierced through my ears. I rarely refused any task. I chose of course, but as of today, no one ever asked me to do something unbelievably terrible. No one ever asked me to end someone's life, especially not herself.

"Don't worry about the law and such. I have arranged everything. No one will catch you. No one will take your freedom from you. No police will come after you. No, no one will ever know that you have killed a human being."

"That’s not it. Why don't you do it yourself?"

She smiled as the reply, that kind of angelic smile which will make everyone seeing it fainted.

In spite of answering my question, she took the hem of her coat and rolled it up.

Again, I gasped. There were marks. Cut marks. On her arm. It was so many and uneven.

"I did. But as you can see. I'm still alive." She rolled back her coat and this time, holding her arm.

"No. Your offer is interesting. But no. I'm not a murderer."

A frown flashed on her face but in the next second, her face back to the previous state. She was acting calm. She then proceeded bending down so that her face just several inches from mine.

"You won’t refuse me." She whispered, "you would life a happy life if you don't. Do you forget about your sister who is lying helplessly in the hospital?"

Her voice sent a shiver down to my body. My eyes widen as the words sipped into my head. _How did she know about my sister?_ I always keep my private life's secret, especially toward my clients. It would be unsafe for me to let people know how broke I am or how I desperately in need of money for my sister medical fee.

"This sum of money would send her home. She would be happy. She could live a normal life. And you don’t have to worry about the yakuzas either."

The image of my sister running around in school uniform flashed before my eyes. With that money, she can be cured. She could get better treatment. And I don’t have to worry about those debt collector. I blinked a few times. I shook my head. _Can I really kill someone for my own benefit?_

"All you have to do, is shoot me, right on the head."

Her whisper took me into dreamland. The offer was really interesting. It's so tempting.

I could feel her smiling. She knew she had already taken me into her cause.

I felt a cold object in my hand. She gave me a gun.

I stared at her for a few second then down at my hand. I never touched a gun before, not to say hold it, moreover, fire it. And it felt weirder than I think it will. It's heavy, steel cold, and smell of blood. Dangerous.

I pondered for a few minutes. I was comparing the positive side versus the negative effect. I knew I can't do this. But, in the end, greed, no, needs, win over me.

"Okay. But, I have to make sure that everything you said is true. Including those bank account, your plan to keep everything under control. And whether this gun is real or not."

She smiled. She won.

* * *

 

We proceeded to the bank to check her account. She told me everything I need to know, calmly. _How could she keep calm when she was about to die?_ Moreover, she was going to be killed, by no other than me. Me, myself, was nervous all the way here. My palms' sweating. Time to time, it shook more frantically.

"So, anything you want to ask?" She asked me as we left the bank.

It didn't even took me a second to blurt out what I'd been thinking about all the way there.

"Why do you want to kill yourself?"

Her expression harden upon my question. But it didn't last long. She was so quick in regaining her composure. In the next second, her expression soften following by a smile raising on her mouth.

"I'm just bored."

"Bored? You're just, wait, 26 years old right? You're not married, and don't have any children, yet. Not to mention you have so much money. You could get anything you want. Why would you be bored?"

Her answer was beyond reason. I would do anything to be in her place. Many would do.

However, she answered me with another smile. She began to look like those wise monks.

"That's why, Jurina. I could get anything I want. That's why I'm bored."

"But still, to the extent that you want to die?"

"Yes."

I was left speechless. If I were her, I would spend the money to rebuild my life. Not to hire someone to kill myself. She was already beyond perfect. Perfect appearance, perfect condition, and I could say, perfect life.

"Then, as to my policy, I would... end your life between 24 hours. We spent an hour since I accepted your task. So, we have 23 hours left. Normally, I would do my job as fast as I could. But, this time, I'll let you spend the day until the last second."

The smile was still plastered on her face. All this time she listened to my every words silently and only replied when she had to.

 "Let's go. I have arranged where I would die. And how. You should just follow the instruction. C'mon. We're going on a drive."

She took my hand casually, and the led me to her car. In normal condition, I would blush when a pretty girl took my hand and entwined it together with hers. But what I got was nervousness, and anxiety. All the way to her car I couldn't stop thinking about the girl in front of me, about why she wanted to die, about why she asked me out of all people. It's such a waste.

I threw glances at her time to time. She looked overly calm for someone who's gonna take her own life. Though, I saw her hands shaking and she blew her hand time to time, whether out of coldness or nervousness.

"So, tell me about yourself, Jurina." She spoke out of the blue, breaking the icy silence.

"So, tell me about yourself, Jurina." She spoke out of the blue, breaking the icy silence.

"Me? Don't you know everything about me?" _since you know about my hospitalized sister. And my debt._

"Pretty much, yes. But I want to hear more from you. Some kind of useless trivia, maybe?"

"I'm just me. Nothing interesting. I dropped out from my school when my parents died in accident." The face of my parents flashed on my mind. I felt nothing. It's a long time ago. "Actually, they were killed by the yakuza. Then, they ended up leaving me and my sister a huge debt."

"Nah. They're long gone."

I expected her to ask some more but she stayed quiet. I assumed the conversation was over, my attention had already back to the flashing scenery, when she began to speak some more.

"My father have just died."

It left me speechless. I wasn't sure what I should say as a reply. Should I be considerate and say 'I'm sorry'? Or I was supposed to listen silently?

My view was then focused on her. I couldn't see any sign of remorse nor mourning. She sat on the driver seat, body half leaning to the steering wheel. Her eyes were glued to the road. What surprised me was the huge grin on her face. She was smiling ear to ear.

"I killed him."

My eyes almost bulged out of its socket. I shouted a _what_ inwardly. It was unexpected. Although when I thought about it later, it could happen to anyone who could provide a gun.

"After this long time he finally dead. You should look how he beg for his life when I told him I'll shoot. It's so funny." She laughed. So whole-heartedly that I saw tears forming on the corner of her eyes.

"Don't you scared of me now?" She asked me when her laugh finally dead down.

I was startled, of course. But, strangely, I didn't feel any sign of fear.

"You must have suffered much."

This time, she was stunned. Her grin disappeared, replaced with an open mouth.

The traffic lamp turned green.

* * *

 

We arrived at a beach. It was winter, no wonder the beach was deserted. Even though, my feeling said it was her private beach. I didn't see anyone else, beside a few people whom I guess are the guard of the area.

Five minutes walk from the beach, we finally reached a cottage. A cottage that was actually too big too be called a cottage. That moment I stand in front of the fence, was the third time I left my mouth hanging opened that day. Purely white, European styled cottage, the size were about the size of the park I used to sleep in everyday. Easily saying, it's ridiculously big.

"Jurina! Let's go in. I'll prepare you a lunch."

Rena shouted and called me in, paper bag in her hug. Did I mention that  we went to a supermarket in the way here? That was such a deal. She couldn’t decide what to cook and kept going around the entire supermarket. When she finally did, we already spent hours in there. Not that I disliked being with her though. It was funny when I saw her being confused. It was funnier that I know, she'll soon lose her life, in my hand, just a couple of hours from now.

In half an hour, the lunch’s ready. It was great. I hadn't eaten like this for, I didn't know how many years. One more plus point for her, she's good at cooking.

"Do you like it?" asked her. She didn't eat much, actually she ate nothing. She did eat salad but I didn't witness her gulping it down. It disappeared from her plate in a blink of eye. I did wonder how she managed that but a plate of omelet rice took away all my attention.

"IT'S AWESOME! Seriously, this is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. Well, less than my mother's spaghetti meat balls though."

She seemed to feel sorry for me when I said that. But the next second her smile sprung back on her beautiful face.

"Do you miss your mother?"

My spoon stopped halfway. I put it down back on my plates. My mom face flashed like an old photo album. The last moments of us weren't so great but I still remember how good my mom's cooking were. _Yes. I miss her._

"Fuh, then, let's go to the beach after this." She said, snapped me back to reality. I hurriedly finished the meal and helped her do the dishes.

 

* * *

 

The sun had begun to set, leaving the sky orange in color. It's been a while since I watched the sun setting down on a beach. When was the last time I go to the beach again?

The beach was chilly, as expected as a winter evening. But the view in front of me was beautiful. Settled down on the sand was me and her. Our clothes were wet from our previous season of playing around the cold sea. I hugged my knees as I witness the moment when a day come to an end. She sat beside me, just as wet as me, head leaning on my shoulder.

We stayed still for another minute. When the night finally rolled in, my lips crushed with hers. I didn't know, and I don't want to know what initiated it, but there we were, my hands on her hand, my lips on hers.

"Do you really want to die?" I asked, panting.

She flashed another smile, this one was even lonelier than the previous ones. She tucked my shirt, brought my lips back to hers.

"Yes." she whispered. Her words' trembling. She was afraid. No, it was me. It was me all along.

"C'mon, we'll catch a cold if we stay here."

She got up and brushed the sands on her knees. With another smile, she magically dragged me back to the cottage.

* * *

_"Do you really want this?"_

_"Yes."_

A bullet shot through to air. It made buzzing sound. No 'bang' that was heard due to the silencer attached.

Right before me, a finely-shaped figure lost her balanced and dropped to the ground. I was standing still, hand pointing at the now void space.

With that small bumping sound, the sunlight made its way to my face, temporarily blinding me. It was 20 hours from our first encounter. Just 20 hours.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw her smiling. She won. She finally won. She won the gamble of her life.

Far away outside, I heard engine's sound roared through the unsettled distance. The collector is here.

I took out the silencer. Staring at the gun she gave me.

Droplets of tears fallen down right on the the killing machine. I smiled. I could saw her face smiling at me.

I took the gun to my side of head.

_'You win, Rena.'_

* * *

 


End file.
